group of employees sitting around sheet of paper with charity on it and heart

As the year comes to an end, and our calendars offer us structured time away from work to look back at the year gone by, something of a collective consciousness opens up. People who don't typically think about charity or giving throughout the year are encouraged to do so. A mass movement around the holiday giving season encourages friends and colleagues to donate their time and money to help those in need. Yet, in spite of (or perhaps because of) the holiday spirit, corporate philanthropy sometimes feels complicated.

There are many misconceptions around corporate giving – the most common being that it's a self-serving excuse to make companies look better. Perhaps this cynicism stems from a sense of corporate convolution around the practice. What's the most strategic initiative to garner media attention? Will there be tax write-offs? What's our initiative's clever catchphrase? Too many people get caught up in the "corporate" part and forget about the real reason to be philanthropic: to give.

But it doesn't need to be this way – in fact, it shouldn't be.

This holiday season, rethink your "giving season" philosophy. Focus on the holiday spirit that inspires giving this time of year and prioritize being authentic, thoughtful, and sensitive to your charitable donors and recipients. Here's how to achieve that this holiday season and how to maintain that mindset throughout the year.

Be authentic

When selecting a philanthropic initiative, avoid thinking about the media attention or marketing value it might bring. Instead, focus on the issue or issues you believe in. Whether that's homelessness, hunger, civil rights, or anything else, steer your philanthropy based on your core beliefs.

Also remember that your firm's beliefs are made up of your employees' beliefs. Make sure they have a voice and that you're listening. Small financial advisor businesses certainly will be able to incorporate their team's voices, but bigger firms can too. One powerful way to encourage authentic giving is through an employee match program, where the company matches employee donations. This is a sincere, anonymous, and powerful way to commit to corporate philanthropy — the company won't get much public credit or applause, but it will engage employees and make a genuine impact on the causes they're committed too.

Carefully plan your giving

The holiday giving season is a great time of year to review company finances, plan for the year ahead, and put money aside to fund philanthropic initiatives. It's also a good opportunity to determine whether or not you can allocate more budget to philanthropy, even if it means putting aside money to use towards a different initiative in the following year.

One effective way to do this is by donating to a donor-advice fund. The moment you contribute money into the fund counts as the donation moment, but the money can sit there, growing tax-free, until employees decide where to direct it.

Business owners should always plan out their philanthropy – the amount of money, which organization it will be donated to, and when. One factor that contributes to the perception of corporate philanthropy as disingenuous is that often it only happens once a year and that it's perceived to happen only for tax-benefit purposes. If you're only allocating donations in December, plan your philanthropic initiatives for the next year and put some money quietly into a donor-advice fund in December to spend throughout the following year. Giving season shouldn't be the only time to make a positive impact.

Be sensitive to charitable organizations' needs

Whatever organization you're donating to, make sure that you're giving something that they actually need. A drastic counterexample to this is how every American wanted to give blood after 9/11– and so many did, in fact, that blood drives were oversaturated. Blood can only last about 40 days, so, unfortunately, much of it went to waste.

Once your company has decided on a charitable organization, talk to the organization's executives about what they need and how you can be of the best possible service. Look to build a long-lasting, meaningful relationship. Plan for a multi-year, multi-occasion effort, not just a one-time donation. Doing so will maximize your impact, and you'll know that your contributions are not going to waste.

There's no need to overthink an alliterative catchphrase or strategize with a giving-season marketing plan, nor is there a need to spend November prioritizing tax write-offs and benefits. If you're giving authentically in the holiday spirit, you shouldn't worry about the existing cynicism around corporate philanthropy, either.

People give during the holiday season because they want to live life with a purpose. Align your company with a just, moral cause, and extend that feeling of purpose through the rest of the year. Knowing your company is engaged in genuine, charitable giving will make the holidays that much brighter.

Gary Zyla is Chief Financial Officer at AssetMark, Inc. AssetMark, Inc. is an investment adviser registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Instant Insights /

This holiday season, don't overthink corporate giving

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